Frozen pensions: an open letter to David Cameron

To mark Canada Day, and the beginning of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's
royal tour, a group of expats in Canada have penned an open letter to the
Prime Minister, imploring him to reverse the frozen pensions policy.

The Duke of Cambridge talks to Doris and Judy Dancer, a mother and daughter who are long-term volunteers for the Canadian Association of British PensionersPhoto: Tim Rooke/Rex Features

Today is Canada Day, when Canadians across the country celebrate the unification of their nation and their independence from the UK. Yet while we all know about America's July 4, few Brits have ever heard of Canada Day. This is because rather than severing our ties in bloody battle, the UK and Canada remained interdependent for much longer and reached a peaceful and amicable agreement on independence over the years leading up to 1867. As such, Canada remains a Commonwealth nation and a close friend and ally of the UK both politically and culturally.

Indeed, in the decades following World War Two when Britain's economy was struggling to recover, the UK government encouraged its citizens to emigrate to Canada and other Commonwealth countries in order to improve economic ties and boost British business interests abroad. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of British citizens moved to Canada during that time and in the years since, following the opportunities they were encouraged to seek, and also following family who had moved before them.

Yet whilst those British citizens diligently paid into the UK national insurance fund – even from overseas, as they were required to do if they were working in Canada temporarily for British companies, or as they were encouraged to do by the Government if they had moved permanently – the majority were not aware that despite the UK's on-going cultural and political ties with Canada through the Commonwealth, they would be penalised in retirement by the very same Government that encouraged them abroad and promised to support them in old age. Due to an arcane and unjust regulation that discriminates against Commonwealth countries, on reaching retirement these pensioners found to their shock that the British state pension they had paid for would be frozen forever at the same rate, with no annual increases to account for inflation. This situation has left many pensioners nearly destitute and some forced to leave their families behind and return alone to the UK.

We and our supporters in the Canadian government find this situation utterly unfair and nonsensical. In an age where more and more people are willing to travel and explore new horizons, the British government should be encouraging its citizens to be part of that global village. Many Brits would love to move to Canada to live with family or seek a new experience, in return providing the UK with a rich cultural exchange and many economic benefits. Yet the fear of becoming a burden in old age or being left destitute will prevent many from taking the plunge, leaving them trapped in the UK where the British government picks up the full tab for their pensions, benefits and care.

We are not asking for the unreasonable, simply for people to be given the pension they pay for, no matter where they choose to retire. For the sake of the 500,000 British pensioners already living on meagre incomes in Canada and other Commonwealth countries, and for the sake of all British workers whose right to a fair pension should be guaranteed without caveats when they pay their national insurance, we call on the British government to repeal this arcane regulation and let fairness prevail.